No. 1 overall seed Virginia (31-2) plays No. 16 seed UMBC (24-10) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday, March 16 in Charlotte, N.C. Tipoff at Spectrum Center (20,200) is set for approximately 9:20 p.m.

For Openers

Virginia is the No. 1 overall NCAA Tournament seed for first time.

UVA earned the ACC’s automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament, while UMBC earned the America East Conference’s automatic bid.

UVA is entering the NCAA Tournament as the nation’s top-ranked team for the first time.

ACC Sixth Man of the Year De’Andre Hunter will miss the NCAA Tournament with a broken left wrist.

UVA has won a school-record 31 games and has won 30 or more games under head coach Tony Bennett three times (2014, 2015 & 2018).

UMBC head coach Ryan Odom is the son of former UVA assistant coach and Wake Forest head coach Dave Odom. UVA Director of Recruiting/Player Development Orlando Vandross was an assistant with Ryan Odom at Charlotte from 2010-15.

The Cavaliers rank first nationally in scoring defense at 53.4 ppg and turnovers per game (8.6).

Broadcast Information

The Virginia-UMBC contest will be televised on TNT and streamed online via NCAA March Madness Live

The game will be broadcast on the Virginia Sports Radio Network and Westwood One/NCAA Radio Network on Sirius (137) and XM (201).

Live statistics will be located on VirginiaSports.com and Virginia Sports app.

UVA ended a seven-game postseason losing streak to North Carolina, holding the Tar Heels scoreless for more than five minutes during the second half in the win.

UNC was led by Luke Maye’s 20 points and Joel Berry II added 17.

UVA held the Tar Heels to a pair of fastbreak points and owned an 18-6 advantage in bench scoring.

UVA in the National Statistical Rankings

UVA ranks first nationally in scoring defense (53.4 ppg), turnovers per game (8.6) and winning percentage (93.9%), third in fouls per game (14.1) and field goal percentage defense (37.5%), sixth in 3-point field goal percentage defense (30.3%), seventh in scoring margin (14.2), eighth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.6) and turnover margin (4.2) and 29th in 3-point field goal percentage (39%).

UVA vs. Creighton and Kansas State

If Virginia defeats UMBC, the Cavaliers would meet No. 8 seed Creighton (21-11) of the BIG EAST Conference or No. 9 seed Kansas State (22-11) of the Big 12 Conference in the NCAA second round on Sunday, March 18.

UVA went 0-1 against the Big 12 this season (68-61 loss at West Virginia) and is 3-0 all-time against current Big 12 foes (1-0 vs. Iowa State, 1-0 vs. Kansas and 1-0 vs. Oklahoma) in the NCAA Tournament.

UVA is 2-2 all-time against current BIG EAST opponents in the NCAA Tournament (1-0 vs. Villanova, 1-0 vs. Providence and 0-2 vs. DePaul).

On the Horizon

The NCAA South Regional will be held at Phillips Arena in Atlanta, Ga.,on Thursdayand Saturday, March 22 & 24.

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